Hiland: Deputy won’t be charged

No law broken in shooting, he says

CONWAY — Faulkner County Sheriff’s Maj. John Randall will not be charged with a crime over a shooting in the line of duty almost three months ago, a prosecutor said Monday.

Randall, who has been on leave since the shooting June 2, oversees the county’s two jails in Conway and the internal- affairs division of the sheriff’s office.

Randall was put on paid administrative leave after the shooting occurred while the Arkansas State Police conducted an investigation, per sheriff’s office policy.

“The state police gave us a very detailed, thorough investigation related to the shooting,” Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said Monday. “After reviewing the file, we came to the conclusion that no criminal law was violated.”

The shooting occurred about 6 a. m. June 2 after the sheriff ’ s special response team, the 20th Judicial Circuit’s drug task force and the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration served a drugs- and- guns search warrant at a home on Linder Road in the Springhill community south of Greenbrier.

Officers arrested two women safely. But a third person, John Paul York, 34, “fought with a deputy and grabbed the deputy’s AR15 rifle,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release at the time.

“A struggle ensued over the rifle,” the release added. “During the struggle, York was shot by another deputy,” since identified as Randall.

York was hospitalized and later transferred to the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Police said they found a large amount of methamphetamine and stolen property, including a tractor, boat and truck, at the site.

Randall had not returned to work as of Monday.

The sheriff’s office was unusually short- staffed for a time, particularly after four other deputies were placed on paid, administrative leave during an internal investigation of two arrests that were caught on video by a Mayflower police officer in May.

Conway City Attorney Chuck Clawson said Mon-

day that he has contacted the state’s Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator in Little Rock so that a special prosecutor can review the file on those deputies and determine whether any charges are warranted against them.

Clawson’s office normally handles misdemeanor charges.

Hiland has said his office completed its review of that case and that he was forwarding the information to other jurisdictions for their review, as well. He declined further

comment on his findings.

The FBI also has been investigating the deputies’ actions.

One of those four deputies, Eugene Watlington, was fired July 10 after a review found he had used excessive force in the May 4 arrest of one of two men in a chase from Mayflower to Conway. During the pursuit, one of the men fired shots at deputies.

Authorities said the two men were treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital the same day.

The sheriff ’ s office later cleared the other three deputies and allowed them to return to work.